Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Flimsies, Quilting and Bindings, OH MY!

I’m sharing the pictures of my “flimsies” that need to be quilted – one picture is those with backings and the other is those without backings. Sigh! When I took the pictures there was a total of 94 to be quilted and then I added three more – grand total 97. Bigger Sigh! LOL (yes, I’m a processor). Now, one of my goals for 2007 is to get busy quilting most of those and hopefully others that I make through the year.

I quilted one before I left on my trip to Texas and this week I’ve quilted two more. One is Lucky Stars by Atkinson Designs with Kaffe Fasset fabrics (not my usual taste but had to make at least one quilt with his fabrics) and the other is a very simple Yellow Brick Road, also, by Atkinson Designs. Once again I don’t remember when I made these but it has to be at least three years ago.

When I finish a “flimsy”, I will make my binding and piece my backing fabric. Sometimes I don’t have the backing but might have the binding, etc. So, the last picture is one box of bindings ready to go on all those “flimsies” when they grow up and become actual quilts.By the way, “flimsy” is a word that Norma uses for quilt tops and I’ve adopted it, too. I like it better than UFO. Norma, I hope you don’t mind!?!?!?!?!?

I’m almost finished with another chocolate bunny – will post that picture tomorrow!

Monday, January 29, 2007

One More Bunny & Piecing

Another bunny block has been completed – three to go! I’ve really enjoyed this project.

I’ve been wanting to make a pink and brown quilt for ages. I have a fat quarter bundle called In The Pink by The Buggy Barn and today I got inspired to start piecing a new project. I knew I was going to need a background fabric for my snowball blocks and thought I’d have to run to the quilt store. And, then I had a light bulb moment – I remembered that I had a great Marsha McCloskey background print from her “Staples” line. It’s over three yards of an off-white with a tan/mocha star (actually it’s a tiny asterisk) that will be great for my pink and brown project. I made a small stack of snowball blocks this evening as a start. I’m loving the way the “staples” print is working in that snowball block. I'm especially glad to know that it'll be out of the drawer! It's been living there for a few years!

Bear in mind that I have a huge tote full of assorted pink and brown prints so there’s another pink and brown quilt in my future.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Bunny Update, Piecing and Stuff

Here are 7 of the blocks from my Rabbits Prefer Chocolate hand appliqué project. Obviously there are still some finishing touches I need to do to most of the blocks i.e. laces, ribbons, buttons, etc. I have 4 more blocks to do – I managed to prep all the appliqué pieces while at my mom’s but now I need to sew the background blocks together and then glue the pieces down for hand sewing. By the way, Rabbits Prefer Chocolate is by Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs - I'm a HUGE fan of her things.

I haven’t done any real piecing on my sewing machine since I made the quilt for Nadine (it's a terrible picture, I threw it on the floor long enough to get a picture before I boxed it up to ship. I'm sorry) You might recall the slump I experienced for a few months. Well, I have the urge to do some machine piecing. (whispered woohoo so I don’t want to break the spell – LOL). I don’t know what I want to work on but I have been thinking about it. HMMMM what to do, what to do??????

I didn't get to do much sewing while at my Mom's as it was more important for her to sew and relieve some stress. She was having a great time pulling out planned projects, patterns, fabric for show and tell, etc. LOL I had fun just watching her share with me!

Whew - this morning I spent time visiting and leaving a "Hi" comment on every blog in the Stash Quilts Ring; sadly I've never done that before. What an incredible and talented group of women - I'm in awe!

Friday, January 26, 2007

I’m Home!WooHoo

I was able to fly out of San Antonio in the wee hours of the morning yesterday (Thursday) and then spent the afternoon taking a very needed long nap in my own bed with my own pillow and blankee. :-) Again, I sincerely appreciate everyone’s supportive and kind comments. I needed to be there to help my mom with a very stressful situation and hopefully I achieved that goal.

I’ll be back later today with a quilting related post as I’m very ready to get back to my regularly scheduled projects and such!

Sunday, January 21, 2007

STILL IN TEXAS! (sigh) As the saying goes - "you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family". I was suppose to go home today but my mom asked me stay a few more days so I'm scheduled to leave on Thursday, January 25th. I can hardly wait to get home to my wonderfully supportive DH, my pillow, my bed, my blanket, my computer, my sewing room - well you get the picture! :-) Last week I arrived just in time to experience a major ice storm - what a mess! Stuck in the house for four days - rain, sleet, rain, sleet, ice on EVERYTHING - snow would have been nice but that's truly rare in south Texas. LOL Thank you so much for all the kind, sweet and wonderful comments so many of you left after I left home! "See" you soon!

Thursday, January 11, 2007

I have an urgent family matter in Texas, so I’m having to hop on a jet plane tomorrow. I anticipate that I’ll be home Sunday, January 21 but that depends on how everything is at that time.

It’s been a stressful week as I’ve had to get some work done before I could make my plans however before I got the call I did manage to get one of my quilt tops quilted (1 down 96 to go). I made this quilt so long ago I can’t tell you much about it – it was a pattern in a magazine, probably American Patchwork & Quilting and I used a Kansas Troubles (Moda) fat quarter bundle). Needless, to say I do love it.

Now, I’m packing and preparing some handwork to take with me. Decisions, decisions!My mom is a quilter, too, so maybe we can spend a little time sewing together. I wonder if she’d enjoy that?

I’m hoping that I’ll get on my sister’s computer while I’m there but I’m not sure!

I still have not started my Applique Delights challenge project that I’m suppose to be doing with Nadine, May Britt, Angie and Hanne. Why? Well, I prepped one block and didn’t like my selection of fabric so it’s back to the “drawing board”. I don’t know why this has caused me so much indecision. grrrrrrrrAnd, I have another appliqué project that my friend, Jo has asked me do with her. Need to prep the first block and I’ll post a picture – very soon!

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Just Fun

A person should not be allowed to have so much fun! Teehee! On New Year’s Eve in past years I’ve started a new project (new year, new project) in whatever I was doing then i.e. quilting or x-stitch, as I was usually alone. My DH used to work in the medical field and was usually working on New Year’s Eve. (for the first time in over 20 years my DH and I were able to go out to celebrate on New Year’s Eve.) Anyway, this year I spent New Year’s Eve day prepping three “Rabbits Prefer Chocolate” blocks and then last night I started sewing them down. These blocks are so much fun to work on – I find myself smiling while I’m working. I absolutely adore bunnies!

Monday, January 01, 2007

Happy New Year

2007 a new chapter, a new beginning, etc. In 2005, my DH and I decided it was time to “downsize and simplify” (those were my buzz words for that year) – we eliminated a lot of physical and mental clutter. In 2006 my DH decided to retire and start enjoying life on a daily basis without physical and mental stress. The decisions we made in 2005 and 2006 were huge and were THE right decisions for us. I’m looking forward to this new year – how much better can it get? It’s all about attitude, isn’t it?

My life is in a good place, so now I need to focus on myself. I spent most of December 31 contemplating and thinking about the things that I enjoy doing and why. It’s very obvious to me that I’ve been spending too much time just doing and failing to enjoy the process. It simply wasn’t fun anymore. What???? Oh, I could go on and on but I won’t bore you with my brattle. With a happy heart I am looking forward to new goals and plans for projects in 2007. I have a long list of projects and such but I’m going to work on making it a more realistic list – I don’t want to set myself up to fail.

And, on a final note, deciding to enter Blogland was such a significant decision in 2006 – I’ve made so many wonderful friends and found a ton of inspiration. It was a good decision – thank you so much for accepting me and providing me with hours of enjoyment.

According to my friend, Nadine in Belgium they say "A Happy Ending, A Wonderful Beginning" (need I say more?)